Wire Shelving Installation for a Pantry and Laundry Room

I've committed the cardinal sin of blogging (which is being "too busy to blog") but I finally caught a moment to show off a semi-recent project: installing wire shelving in a kitchen pantry and a laundry room.

There are definitely some pros and cons to this kind of shelving, so I thought these photos might give you all a chance to see how well they would function in your home.

I'll start with the "before." The shelves went into an empty hallway near a back door. This is the door that the family uses, so it's a great place for pantry shelves, because you can come in and stack groceries on them and so on.

We used fairly deep shelves from a kit from the hardware store. Here's how they looked right after I put them in.

Not too shabby! Very neat and tidy.

But as I said, there is a down-side to these as well. Let's dig into the nitty-gritty.

Pros and Cons to Installing Wire Shelves

I always like to start with the upside.

PROS:

• They're inexpensive.
• They're coated in plastic, so they're easy to clean.
• You can hang things from them (which is great in a laundry room where you might hang a shirt up to dry).
• They allow for good air circulation. This means they're good for storing things that need to dry out, like damp tennis shoes, or things that need to stay dry in the first place, like onions.
• They're somewhat moisture resistant (although they will rust if really abused).
• They're easy to install.
• It's easy to see what's on them, even on the top shelves. Very nice when you want to hang them all the way up near the ceiling!

CONS:

• The most obvious drawback is that wire shelving isn't particularly beautiful. But that may not matter to you, especially if it will be hidden.
• However there is a less obvious drawback: the gaps between the shelves.
  • Small items may tip over or even fall through a gap, so these shelves may not be suitable for a bathroom or office closet where you need to store lots of little odds and ends.
  • Fabric items will be pressed against the shelves and get little lines imprinted in them. This is fine for things like towels, but it's disastrous for your clothes! That's why I don't recommend wire shelving for bedroom closets (except maybe for storing shoes or kids' toys).
  • Books don't do well on this kind of shelving for the same reason: they tip over and/or get damaged by the wire lines.

But for a pantry or laundry room, these are great...

...although if you want to upgrade to solid shelving or even cabinets, we can do that, too. It's become a growing trend to add high-end laundry rooms and pantries to a home, and it could lead to a nice increase in your home value for a modest investment.

Either way, we're always glad to help. Call or email today to get started.

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